Plate Tectonics, the Cause of Earthquakes

Four metres 13 ft of sideways movement has been measured between the two sides of the previously unknown fault. They occur because the fault line that ruptured needs to settle down again and release stress, aftershocks are the fault lines way of releasing remaining energy. The rest of the plates carry on moving, which leads to increased pressure on the locked section. But whereas plaster cladding has survived, some of the brick veneer homes are looking a little naked, with timber and building paper now visible. These cracks provide a means for magma to escape, and hence we have the North Island volcanoes.

Christchurch Earthquake Essay Example for Free

The particular risk with the Hikurangi trench is a tsunami that could sweep south into Pegasus Bay. From there, go through the various pages within the earthquake section. KeithW Extremely interesting and informative. This devastating event took the lives of many people with a death toll of 166 as at Sunday 6th March 2011. This happens when the Pacific plate begins to descend beneath the Indo-Australian plate. This is the building where most of the deaths occurred, perhaps as many as a hundred or even more, including most of the foreign deaths at the Kings Language School.

Now we know there are. It is the stringent New Zealand building codes that make house building so expensive in this country. As the plates separate along the boundary, they create a crack in the Earth, which results in having land fall through into the Asthenosphere. Do earthquakes have a domino effect? Subduction zones The Australian and Pacific Plates generally don't move smoothly past each other. The Kaikoura Coast itself is presumably at even greater risk. Article written by Jesmetha Baladevan. The greatest destruction would likely be along the aWest Coast.

Essay about Christchurch Earthquake

But in other instances, plates will slide by and brush against each other -- a little like drivers on the highway sideswiping each other, but very, very slowly. Andy, The hot springs are caused by presure along mini fault lines. The measures the intensity of earthquakes based on what can be felt and observed by people and is considered a better indicator of the effects of an earthquake. The quake caused damage to historic buildings in , Christchurch's port town, including cracks in a church and the destruction of parts of a hotel. Many have caused further damage to buildings in the Christchurch , with some felt as far away as 300 km to the south in. Use Agriculture Collection now Find out about Agriculture Collection.

2011 Christchurch Earthquake

The damage in Christchurch was far more substantial than the damage caused in the 7. Along with human casualties, there were many animals who died during the earthquake and many of the animals who survived the initial quake, did not survive the aftermath because of the restriction to food and water resources. There is also uplift of about 4 metres along the edge of both plates. Given this information I can now see why the powers to be have a conundrum of mammoth proportions in deciding which way to move forward for the best. While the problem had long been well understood by planners, it is not clear that the public understood it as well, or that it widely influenced development, buying or building decisions.

Also depends on the soil under the building, if it is prone to liquefaction or not. Even within Christchurch, location was of huge importance, but there is more to it than that. Coming back to the Greendale and Port Hill Faults, my theory there is that north of the faults the land is moving west, and south of the fault it is not really going anywhere, But it gets a bit more complex than that, because its a bit like the front row of a rugby scrum, where there is plenty of buckling and twisting, and this can have somewhat unpredictable effects. These led to formal standards after the , which have since been progressively updated. Instead of fracturing at the boundary, these recent earthquakes involved fractures within fragments of the Pacific Plate on which Canterbury lies. But there is no evidence for this occurring in Canterbury for about 8 million years.

Tectonics of the M7 earthquake near Christchurch, New Zealand

The water and sewage pipes were badly damaged. Some of the best material for non-geologists is in the Learning Section at Another site that I found to be very informative was the Mt Aspiring College website. In contrast, on the eastern side of the major fault we have the Hikurangi Trench and the Kermadec Trench. But it really was bad luck that the spate of Christchurch earthquakes were almost right below the city and at very shallow depths. The larger the magnitude of the earthquake the greater the area over which landslides can occur. Christchurch So how does the Alpine Fault explain the Christchurch earthquake of February 2011? It is as if the Canterbury Plains were made of gelatin. It also provides essential rainfall whilst holding the oxygen needed to survive.

Essay about Christchurch Earthquake

So that reinforces the notion that these eastern suburbs are indeed very vulnerable to any future earthquakes. Earthquake occurrence in different plate tectonic settings: The map below of Earth's solid surface shows many of the features caused by plate tectonics. There was movement up, down and sideways during the February quake. Along with a large number of casualties, there were several thousands who were injured, out of which 164 people had serious injuries. It is often said that the biosphere is just the peel of an apple in relation to its size. It may have been 1979.

Understanding the Christchurch earthquake: building damage

Archived from on 5 September 2010. One small but perhaps important point is that at least in some places the water and sand continued to bubble up for hours after the earthquake and not just during the earthquake. Subduction zones appear as deep oceanic trenches. Many of Christchurch's major landmarks survived intact, including the , the , and. An increasing knowledge of the tectonics of the Alpine Plate has created an understanding that the likelihood of a Magnitude 8 or greater earthquake on the Alpine Fault is very high.